He
visits jail and prison and listens to those who struggle with
addiction. He meets whenever possible with families of addicts and
helped establish Andy’s Angels, a foundation named for his son, and
the Grass Lake Community Wellness Initiative, a privately funded effort
to enhance community health.

For his work trying to prevent young
people from taking drugs and helping those who already have,
the Citizen Patriot named Hirst, 57, of Waterloo Township a 2012
Distinguished Citizen of the Year.

“He is doing something that, as
far as I know, no one else in the community does without getting paid
to do it,” said his longtime friend John Deming, 66, of Clark Lake, who
nominated Hirst for Citizen of the Year.

Deming is a retired
commercial loan officer. He first met Hirst in the 1980s when Hirst was
his client. Deming took a chance on him, and
Hirst now is president of Hirst Electric in Summit Township.

“That
is the Citizen of the Year for me, someone who is not operating within
their field of expertise. He’s an electrician and he’s learned a lot
about drug use in the community, and a lot of it is really ugly,” Deming
said.

“I can’t tell you that he has been able to save one
individual, but I think somebody has to take that step to try to reach
kids.”

Hirst reached Doug Klave, 27, of Grass Lake.

Klave knew Hirst’s son and, like Andrew Hirst, was addicted to heroin.

It
had started with pills. “It turned into doing something strong. You
kind of end up sliding down the water slide, faster and faster, and
usually when you are there, you are shooting heroin.”

He got into trouble and went to jail for six months.

Hirst visited him there. He visited Klave more than anyone else. They talked.

He told Klave if he straightened out his life, he would give him a job and send him to school.

“Any guy would be an idiot to turn that down, especially when it is basically saving your life,” Klave said.

Sober
for 2 1/2 years, Klave now works for Hirst. He is an apprentice
electrician, going to school and thriving. Everyone wants him on his or
her crew.

Klave called Hirst uplifting and positive. As a manager,
he’s laid back and encourages people to take their time and do it
right.

“I think even when he’s mad, he’s smiling,” Klave said.

Klave
said he is in a “good spot.” He will not go back to drugs and he knows
Hirst, in addition to being his boss, is also his friend.

“I always tell him I appreciate him.”

To see a young person fight addiction and win is “really fun,” Hirst said.

It is “horrible” when people fail, but Hirst tries to put into practice what he tells others: Get back up and fight.

Hirst tried to help his son.

Andrew Hirst went multiple times to rehabilitation facilities. He went to jail, but he could not kick the disease.

Clean for months, he took a fatal dose while working for his father’s company at a job site on Springport Road.

Even shortly after Andy Hirst’s death, Mike Hirst did not shy from telling the truth of what happened and the "medical emergency" that is a heroin addiction.

He works with police to go after dealers. He goes to schools. Once, he gave a sermon.

The foundation has helped those with addictions, doing things as small as providing clothes for a person who arrived at a rehabilitation facility wearing little more than boxer shorts.

“I would be lying if I said it didn’t take away some of the pain,” Hirst said of his efforts.

Now,
he will talk to anyone who asks, even if it is at the expense of his
business, and he laments he does not have more time to do more.

Hirst fights stereotypes that addicts are “degenerates,” and has encouraged businesses to hire those who are recovering.

“When you get them away from the drugs… they are people just like you and me who are trapped in a world of addiction.”

There
are not a lot of success stories, he said. “But when you see them, you
know there’s hope. If you don’t have hope, you have no chance.